Softball: St. Charles East escapes jam, Batavia
Batavia put as much pressure as it could on St. Charles East Friday, and the Saints showed they were up to the task.
With the Saints clinging to a 4-2 lead in the top of the seventh, the Bulldogs loaded the bases with nobody out and their four, five and six hitters due up.
With a big assist from her defense, Saints freshman pitcher Katie Arrambide retired all three hitters to preserve the 4-2 Upstate Eight River victory.
"It's good we were put in that situation," Saints coach Jarod Gutesha said. "When you play in that pressure situation the more comfortable you'll be and more relaxed you will be and able to perform at a high level. It was nice we were able to overcome the pressure and come out on top."
Jaelen Lisberg started the inning with a single for Batavia (5-8, 3-3). Kaylan Waldron also singled and Cassidy Carby walked to load the bases.
Arrambide got the first out on a line shot to right fielder Hannah Cozzi who made the catch and threw a bullet to catcher Paige Ligocki.
Next, in what Gutesha called the key play of the inning, Arrambide fielded a squibber in front of the plate and flipped the ball from her glove to Ligocki for the force at home and the second out.
Second baseman Krista Sbarra then snared a hard-hit grounder and threw to first for the final out.
"I was a little nervous but I knew I had to stay calm to call the right pitches and keep her (Arrambide) calm and keep my whole team calm," Ligocki said.
St. Charles East (11-2, 5-1) scored three runs in the first inning. Maddie Candre led off with a single and scored on Cozzi's double. Arrambide's infield single plated Cozzi, and Maddy Stout made it 3-0 with an RBI double.
The only other run against Sammi Wicks (6 IP, 7 hits, 1 K) came when Ligocki drove an inside fastball over the left field fence for her first home run of the season in the fifth.
"She's a good pitcher don't get me wrong but her windup kind of played with me," Ligocki said. "I thought she was way faster than she was. It was playing mind games with me. The last at-bat with my home run I just waited for it."
Batavia scored single runs in the second and fourth innings, the first on Allison Bahlmann's RBI triple and the second when Chloe Chvojcsek came through with a 2-out single after Molly Costigan had doubled.
Arrambide scattered 9 hits - 2 each to Lisberg, Waldron and Bahlmann - while striking out eight.
"Our girls kept battling the whole game," Batavia coach Lupe Castellanos said. "We had a rough first inning but we did a nice job bouncing back.
"Early on it took us awhile to adjust, she (Arrambide) has a lot of spin on her ball, but I thought our team had some great at-bats, did a nice job adjusting, put some pressure on their defense. Our team was patient and I think she was getting a little bit tired toward the end. She is really good. You have to lay off that rise ball."
The Saints head to Ottawa tomorrow to play Huntley and Ottawa while Batavia travels to Hoffman Estates.
"We gave ourselves a chance at the end, we just have to come up with that big hit," Castellanos said. "I've got to give a lot of credit to St. Charles because they hung in there at the end and kept their composure under a lot of pressure."